Trinh Xuan Thuan

In this Vietnamese name, the surname is Trịnh, but is often simplified to Trinh in English-language text. In accordance with Vietnamese custom, this person should be referred to by the given name, Xuân Thuận.

Trịnh Xuân Thuận (born August 20, 1948) is a Vietnamese-American astrophysicist.

Trinh Xuan Thuan
Trịnh Xuân Thuận in 2015
Born	Trịnh Xuân Thuận (1948-08-20) August 20, 1948 (age 77)[1] Hanoi, Vietnam
Nationality	American
Education	California Institute of Technology (BS) Princeton University (PhD)[1]
Known for	Research in galaxy formation Author of popular books[1]
Awards	Prix Moron [fr] (2007) Kalinga Prize (2009) Prix mondial Cino Del Duca (2012) Legion of Honor – Chevalier (2014)
Scientific career
Fields	Astrophysics
Institutions	University of Virginia
Doctoral advisor	Lyman Spitzer[1]

Biography

Trịnh Xuân Thuận was born in Hanoi, Vietnam. He completed his B.S. at the California Institute of Technology, and his Ph.D. at Princeton University. He has taught astronomy at the University of Virginia, where he is a professor, since 1976, and is also a research associate at the Institut d’Astrophysique de Paris. He was a founding member of the International Society for Science and Religion.

Thuận was the recipient of UNESCO's Kalinga Prize in 2009 for his work in popularizing science. He received the Kalinga chair award at the 99th Indian Science Congress at Bhubaneswar. In 2012, he was awarded the Prix mondial Cino Del Duca from the Institut de France.^[2] This prize recognizes authors whose work, literary or scientific, constitutes a message of modern humanism.^[3] In 2014 Thuận was inducted into the French Legion of Honor as a Chevalier.^[4] Thuận's areas of interest are extragalactic astronomy and galaxy formation. His research has focused on the evolution of galaxies and the chemical composition of the universe, and on compact blue dwarf galaxies.

Books for general readers

• 1992. Le destin de l'univers : Le big bang, et après, collection « Découvertes Gallimard » (nº 151), série Sciences et techniques. Paris: Éditions Gallimard.
  • 1993. UK edition – The Changing Universe: Big Bang and After, 'New Horizons' series. London: Thames & Hudson.
  • 1993. US edition – The Birth of the Universe: The Big Bang and After, "Abrams Discoveries" series. New York: Harry N. Abrams.
• 1994. The Secret Melody.
• 2000. Chaos and Harmony.
• 2001. The Quantum and the Lotus. (with Matthieu Ricard)
• 2008. Voyage au cœur de la lumière, collection « Découvertes Gallimard » (nº 527), série Sciences et techniques. Paris: Éditions Gallimard.